Mechanism of nucleation of oriented cadmium telluride films forming under highly nonequilibrium conditions

The results of electron microscopy and sensor studies of nucleation of oriented CdTe films synthesized under highly nonequilibrium conditions on the substrate cooled to Ts = 228 K are reported. The photomicrographs of the surface, the distribution functions of the islands of a new phase at the initial stage, and the kinetic curves of the sensor analysis obtained during the synthesis are presented. It is shown that the experimental results can be noncontradictorily accounted for by the spinodal evolution character of the population of adatoms.